All Value City Furniturestores across the nation have permanently closed, leaving roughly 10,000 customer orders unfulfilled.
The decades-old, Columbus, Ohio–founded retailer, which operated 126 stores under the Value City Furniture and American Signature Furniture brands, closed its last locations this past week after filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November.
Still, roughly 10,000 customers have yet to receive furniture for which they put down a deposit, Laura Davis Jones, attorney for American Signature, told a U.S. Bankruptcy Court this month, the St. Louis Business Journal reports. That number has dropped from an initial 36,000 unfilled orders, according to the outlet.
Jones added that $55 million worth of ordered furniture has been delivered to customers since the company filed for bankruptcy in November, leaving less than $12 million in claims believed to be undelivered. Customers still awaiting furniture have until April 30 to submit claims through the bankruptcy case’s website.
In February, it was reported that over 36,000 customers filed claims totaling over $57 million against American Signature Inc. for undelivered furniture, with total claims expected to rise.
Value City Furniture, founded and owned by the Schottenstein family, has a history dating to the 1930s, when it was part of their namesake department store. The standalone retail chain was established in 1948, growing to 28 stores across four states by the 1970s and reaching 13 states by the 1990s, according to the Journal.
The American Signature brand was introduced in 1995 and eventually became the parent company’s name in the 2000s, though in its hometown of Columbus, it has always been known as Value City Furniture.
ASI Purchaser LLC, the only bidder for American Signature, acquired the business in February and immediately began liquidating stores. Both ASI Purchaser and the lead liquidation firm, SB 360 Capital Partners, are fully or majority owned by members of the Schottenstein family, a detail that drew objections from the U.S. Trustee’s Office and the committee of creditors involved in the case.
The initial purchase price was $147.8 million, including $83.1 million in cash and $64.7 million in assumed liabilities. A settlement with the committee of creditors increased the price by $10.75 million and provided for a larger share of proceeds from real property sales. Creditors would receive 15 percent if property sales exceeded $67.5 million and 50 percent if they exceeded $70 million.
Judge Kate Stickles ruled in a February 4 hearing that the agreement with ASI Purchaser represented the “highest and best” return on the business, noting that the sale process was conducted in good faith and with sound business judgment despite the lack of competing bids.
American Signature had appointed an independent director in November who, along with his own outside counsel and advisers, negotiated the sale with ASI Purchaser.
